Photoelectric haze penetrator



June 21,1938; EJONES 2,121,771

PHOTOELECTRIC HAZE PENETRATOR Filed July 27, 1934 INVENTOR Herbert L. dbnes,

M WWKQ ATTORNEYS meted June 21,1938 a 2,121.7?

- UNITED STTE" mommcmjg ib Herbert Jones, Colorado Springs, 0010., assignor, by name assignments, to Kansas City Testin; Laboratory Application July 27, 1934, Serial No. 731,311

* column. (01. 178-63) My invention relates to improvements in and forms with the silver backing a tiny con .photo-electric haze penetrators, and it consists denser. The photo-sensitive material is a caein the combinations, constructions and arrangesium oxide sensitizedby a special process. Each .ments herein described and claimed. small particle forms a tiny photo cell in series The invention relates to that type of appawith the condenser. As light falls on these cells ratus using infra-red rays whose wave lengths a charge is builtup proportional to the light inare too long to be perceptible to the eye, but tensity and is discharged in steady succession which penetrate haze, fog, mist etc. much betby a cathode ray beam.

ter than those rays that make up the visible This plate is in position to be scanned by a lo spectrum. This infra-red radiant energy is cathode beam iG-by means of alternating cur- 1 transformed by certain photo-sensitive material rent supplied to deflecting plates I1 and I8. into electrical energy and in connection with a The pair of plates I1 is at right angles to the scanning device is transmitted with proper ampair of plates [8 and it is the result of action plification to another scanning device that forms of these two pairs of plates that causes the a visual image. By this means a visual image cathode beam to scan or to cover the whole area 15 can be reproduced of an object that is either of the plate I4. The alternating .current causes a source of infra-red radiations or lighted by an electro-static field tobe set up between these reflected infra-red radiations even when atplates' whichvaries in accordance with the fre- V mospheric conditions would absorb and diffuse quencies of the current generated by the genall visible light. erators l9 and 20 through the respective trans- 20 An object of my invention is to increase the formers 2| and 22. As this electro-static field range of ocular perception through haze, mist, varies the action upon the electron beam l6 fog, smoke, and all. other vapors and suspended causes it to be swung, from one side of the plate particles that cause a lack of transparency to to the other. The plate I5 is maintained negathe atmosphere. tive to the auxiliary anode 23 through the bias- 5 A further object of the invention is to provide ing resistor 24, but since the photo-electric globa device making use of photo-sensitive cells in ules on the plate' l4 are separated from the cona 0 1 e Which lows a greater time ducting plate l5-there is no conduction between of exposure before discharge thus P tt the plate l4 and the anode 23 even though the very weak radiations to be built up into a signal photo-electric globules emit electrons. As the 30 current large enough for proper amplification cathode beam l6 strikes a particular point on and use. the platev I4 there is conduction set up between A further object of the invention is to pmthe plate It and the anode 23, each photovide a device which has no mechanical movsensitive globule acting as an individualphoto able parts and which, therefore, obviates the cell.

troubles caused by mechanical scanning. I As the cathode beam l6 scans the plate It Othe Objects and advanta es wi appear in point by point a current is developed between th following Specification. d t e novel feathe plate It and the anode 23. Each particular tures of the invention will be particularly point of this current is directly proportional to pointed out in the appended claims. the intensity of light incident on the particular 40 y invention s illustrated in e p ypoint. It is amplified by the vacuum tube 25 ihg d win which s 8 d ag ammatic S w and can be again amplified by as many stages as of the apparatus and of the circuit connections may be necessary. therewith. In the drawing I have shown only one ampli- In the drawing at the'upper left hand corner fying tube 25 and a power tube 26 by means of 5 is shown a tube Ill for receiving the infra-red which the current is finally amplified and is imradiations, and containing a filter II and a lens pressed on the control grid 21 of the cathode ray system l2. The filter H is transparent to infrareceiving tube 28.

- red rays only. An iconoscope tube is shown at The cathode ray-receiving tube 28 is similar I3. This is a special cathode ray tube such as to the cathode ray oscillograph and is used as 50 that used in television transmission. It includes a television receiver. The cathode beam 29 of a plate I4 of insulating material such as mica, this tube passes through the control grid 21 and having asilver backing IS. The mica plate has is focused by the action of the two anodes 30 thereon thousands of photo-sensitive globules, and 3| on the fluorescent screen 33. The latter each of which is very active photo-electrically ,is composed of fluorescent material that will give of! a greenish light when subjected to cathode ray bombardment, the intensity of the fluorescent screen by deflecting plates 34 and 35 in the same manner as was described for the beam IS in the tube I3. These deflecting plates 'ifl'e connected to the transformers 22 and 2i respectively. Therefore at any instant the oathode beam 29 is in the same relative position as the cathode beam l6 and the two beams scan their respective screens in exactly the same manner, with the exception that the pair of vertical deflecting plates in the receiving tube 28 is reversed with respect to the vertical deflecting plates in the tube I3, and similarly the hori-.

zontal deflecting plates in receiving tube 28 are reversed with respect to the horizontal deflecting plates in the transmitting tube i3. This is necessary in order to erect the image on the screen 33 since the transmitted image from the plate I4 is inverted by means of the lens system l2.

As was described above, the signal voltage from the plate i4 is impressed on the control grid 21 of the cathode grid tube 28 and this signal voltage is varying with the variations of light intensities on the plate 14. This varying voltage applied to the control grid 21 varies the intensity of the cathode beam 29. Therefore the intensity of the cathode beam-at any instant is proportional to the light intensity on the particular point on the plate I4 that is covered by the cathode beam I6 at that instant, and since the two beams l6 and .29 scan their respective screens in synchronism,

as was described above, the brightness of any particular point on the screen 33 will vary in accordance with the intensity of light on its corresponding point on plate i4. v

Ihe intensity of the infra-red radiation of any point. of the image on plate M will-be proportional to the infra-red radiation being emitted or reflected from the corresponding point of the object in front of the lens system i2. fore as beam [6 scans thplate l4 andas the beam 29 scans the fluorescent screen 33, there will be an exact point to point correspondence between the object and the fluorescent screen 33 and the brightness of each point on the fluorescent screen 33 will be proportional to the intensity of the infra-red radiation being emitted or reflected from the corresponding point of the object.

The power used by the cathode ray tubes and amplifiers is supplied by some source of alternating current through the transformer 36, the high voltages for the anodes of the tubes l3 and. 28 being supplied by operating the rectifier 31, the difference in voltages and the positive and negative bias being given by the resistor 38.

I claim:

1. A haze penetrator system comprising a filter which passes infrared rays, a cathode ray tube having a photo-electric mosaic screen, an electron gun and deflecting means, a lens associated with the filter and the screen for forming an inverted image of an object on said screen, a cathode ray receiving tube having an electron gun, a fluorescent screen and deflecting means, electrical connections betweenthe screen of the first tube and the gun of the second tube for modulating the electron beam as it passes to the second tube, common sources of potential for deflecting the electron beams horizontally and vertically at the transmitter and receiver, and

There-- electrical connections between the deflecting member at the receiving station and the generator which invert the received image to form an erect image.

2. A fog and haze penetrator system comprising, in combination, an optical system including a fllter which passes substantially infrared rays only, a cathode ray tube having an infrared photo-sensitive screen, an electron gun and deflecting means, a cathode ray receiving tube having an electron gun, a fluorescent screen and deflecting means, and electrical connections between the infrared photo-sensitive screen of the flrst tube and the gun oi the second tube for modulating the electron beam as it passes to the second tube, said system being provided with a common source of potential for deflecting the electron beams horizontally and vertically at both the transmitter and the receiver.

3. A fog and haze penetrator system comprise ing, in combination, a cathode ray transmitting tube having a photo-electric mosaic screen, an electron gun and deflecting means, means for forming an inverted image f'an object on said screen, a cathode ray receiving tube having an electron gun, a fluorescent screen and deflecting means, electrical connections between the screen of the first tube and the gun of the second tubefor modulating the electron-beam of the second tube, means for deflecting the electron beams horizontally and vertically at the transmitter and receiver, and electrical connections associated with the deflecting means at the receiving station for inverting the received image to form 'an erect image.

,4. A combined, unitary television transmitting and receiving apparatus for use in penetrating fog, haze and the like, comprising a cathode ray transmitting tube having an infrared photo sensitive screen, an electron gun and deflecting means, means associated with the infrared photo-sensitive screen for forming an image thereon, a cathode ray receiving tube having an electron gun, a fluorescent screen and defleeting means, electrical connections between the infrared photo-sensitive screen of the first tube and the gun of the second tube for modulating the electron beam of the second tube, and a source of potential for deflecting the electron beams horizontally and vertically at the transmitter and receiver.

5. A combined, unitary television transmitting and receiving apparatus for use inpenetrating fog, haze and the like, comprising a cathode ray tube having a photo-electric mosaic screen, an

electron, beams horizontally and vertically at the transmitter and receiver, and electrical'connections between the deflecting member at the re-' ceiving station and the common source of potential which inverts the received image to form an erect image.

6. A combined, unitary television transmitting and receiving apparatus for use in penetrating fog, haze and the like, comprising, in combination, a fllter which passes substantially only infrared rays, a cathode ray tube having an tions between the infrared photo-sensitive screen, an electron gun and deflecting means, a lens associated with the filter and the screen for forming an image of an object on said screen, a cathode ray receiving tube having an electron gun, a fluorescent screen and deflecting means, "electrical connecscreen of the first tube and the gun of the second tube for modulating the electron beam of the second tube, common sources of potential for deflecting the electron beams horizontally and vertically at the transmitter and receiver,

infrared photo-sensitive deflecting means, means for transmitting electrical impulses between the screen of the first tube and the gun'oi the second tube for modulating the electron beam of the second tube, means for deflecting the electron beams horizontally and vertically at the transmitter and receiver, and electrical connections associated with the deflecting means at the receiving station for inverting the received image to form an erect image.

8. That improvement in methods of visibly detecting normally visible objects rendered invisible because of fog, haze or other atmospheric disp'ersions, which comprises filtering out substantially all except the infrared light rays radiating from said objects by translation of infrared light therefrom onto an infrared photo-sensitive screen, scanning said screen with a cathode ray to develop a train of electrical impulses, and

Ill

translating the electrical impulses into an op- 20 tically visible image.

HERBERT E. JONES. 

